July 16, 2006

In September, 2004 I wrote a post titled You're Gonna Get Drafted. People e-mailed this post around, linked to it or modified it and posted it themselves, and even printed it out and left stacks in college-town coffee shops. (It even made it into Newsweek.)

While the post was about voting in the election, it still applies, it still means people must become aware, must get involved, must take action to fight the right-wing takeover of this country - now more than ever, because if this war spreads there is no way we can avoid a draft. If this Middle East war is allowed to spread it will affect each and every one of us beyond just higher gas prices.

We all need to be getting the word out to the great masses of Americans who are not really paying attention to politics, about what the Bush policies mean to them and their lives -- war, debt, destruction of government protections, environmental degradation and loss of rights will come home to hurt each and every one of us. As Al Gore says in the global-warming movie An Inconvenient Truth, "we are entering a period of consequences."

You already blew it: You didn't vote last time, or voted for Nader or Bush, and now you're gonna get drafted. There's no way around it now, the draft is almost a certainty.

You're hearing about Reserve and National Guard units being called up, and about people not allowed to leave the military even though their term is up. Have you thought about what this means to you? You KNOW this means they're having trouble finding enough soldiers to go to Iraq, right? Of course Bush doesn’t want to start the draft BEFORE the election. Duh! But what do you think happens the day AFTER the election?

I repeat, they are having trouble finding enough soldiers to go to Iraq. Think about it. Right, you're gonna get drafted.

Or, maybe you think they can't do that? Maybe you think the draft doesn't happen in America. Maybe you think they can't just grab your ass up off the street, stick a rifle in your hands and send you off to war? Of course not, that NEVER happens. Right.

WAR. Yes, that word. The word you have been hearing from Bush’s lips for months now. "I'm a WAR president", he says. Well, what did you think war MEANS? Somebody ELSE’S war? Did you think it means you get to watch a TV show with planes and stuff?

No, WAR means young people getting grabbed up off the street and sent off to fight. That. Is. What. War. Is.

And, by the way, women and students are NOT going to be exempt this time. Maybe not even rich kids. ONLY the children of politicians will be exempt. THIS TIME.

So, are you finally ready to do something about it THIS TIME? Which candidate do you think is more likely to grab your ass off the street and send it to Iraq? Which candidate do you think is more likely to start a war with Iran, or Syria, or maybe even North Korea? Like Bush says, we're at war, and that's the issue in this election. Well, THAT’S what you should be thinking about THIS TIME.

So vote. THIS TIME.

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Except there's a problem with this message. Young people are so disengaged that there probably aren't very many of them reading weblogs like this one, so they won't see this. And that means they might not figure this stuff out in time for the election. You have to help them. Take this post and copy it and paste it into an e-mail and send it to someone who is under 30. Or write your own message explaining what the draft is, and why they should be concerned enough to actually vote. It is important to explain that the draft actually CAN happen to them. If you're old enough you can tell them from experience.

Posted by Dave Johnson at July 16, 2006 12:37 PM

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Comments

ok,that may work.Explain to them that what,? other people are making all the sacrifices? I'm not too sure that young people or old have one thought that there is a war going on now.That people are dying. Hide those damn coffins.At least when I grew up, when I sat down to eat supper and the news came on, I got a clue. Because I saw it all there.It was awful,it made me feel so hopeless, helpless.Made me understand what others of my own age were giving up.The draft was on.I was a girl.I wasn't going to get drafted.I felt guilty about that.Is there some good reason that people can't feel anything now?
I'm thinking that they don't have to be a part of it unless they should choose to be a part of it.So, as far as I can see, yes by all means,draft them! the sooner the better.Make people feel this war,on an up close and personal basis.Oh, and the other thing.No damn deferments this time.None.No collage deferments.None of this just the poor kids get to go die.Nope.Everybody this time.Why do you seriously think there is no draft yet?Cuz, that doesn't get to happen again.Next time,everybodys kid goes.Therefore way easier to send in the same national guard person for 3 deployments.Works just fine.No problem with that.
I've said it befor and will say it again.Bring up the draft.Best and quickest way I can think of to end this, whatever you want to call it?...War? No I guess it isn't a war really.We won along time ago.So my guess is we don't draft people when it isn't a real war.We just send the same people back again and again.
And again and again.
I forgot for a minute that we already won this war.